Longwell Green Primary School

Age group 4–11 Inspection date(s) 20–21 June 2012 Inspection number 395458 Longwell Green Primary School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 109030 Local authority South Gloucestershire Inspection number 395458 Inspection dates 20–21 June 2012 Lead inspector James Henry

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Type of school Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 402 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Elaine Skidmore Headteacher Donald Sibley Date of previous school inspection 4 July 2007 School address Ellacombe Road Longwell Green Bristol BS30 9BA Telephone number 01454 866460 Fax number 01454 866462 Email address head@longwellgreenprimaryschool.co.uk achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked

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after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when.

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You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk, or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days' notice. Inspectors examined teaching and learning in 17 lessons and part lessons and observed 14 teachers. Meetings were held with senior staff, members of the governing body and groups of pupils. Inspectors took account of the responses to the on-line Parent View survey in planning the inspection and observed the school’s work. They looked at school self- evaluation documents, school improvement plans, data tracking pupils’ progress, teachers’ planning, governing body minutes, policies and procedures to safeguard pupils, and school records of dealing with incidents of inappropriate behaviour and bullying. As well as questionnaires from pupils and staff, 134 questionnaires from parents and carers were received and analysed.

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Information about the school

Longwell Green is much larger than the average-sized primary school. The overwhelming majority of pupils are from White British heritage with English as their first language. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is well below the national average. The percentage of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, including those supported at school action plus or those with a statement of special educational needs, is well below the national average. The school has a breakfast club on site that is managed by the governing body. The school meets the current floor standards in English and mathematics set by the government as the minimum requirements for pupils’ attainment and progress by the end of Key Stage 2.

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Information about the school

The school has achieved an International School award, a ‘Bike It’ Bronze Award and an Outdoor Play and Learning gold award. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Key findings

 This is a good school. It is not outstanding because the rate at which pupils learn, especially in mathematics, slows a little in some lessons at the beginning of Key Stage 2. There are, on occasions, missed opportunities in lessons to develop pupils’ ability to learn for themselves and the role of middle leaders is not fully developed.  Pupils make good progress overall in reading, writing and mathematics and leave school with attainment that is above the national average. Progress across Key Stage 1 is, in general, more consistent than Key Stage 2.  Teaching across the school is good overall. Lessons are generally planned well to meet the needs of different groups of pupils, including disabled pupils and those with special educational needs. However, there are occasions where opportunities for pupils to be challenged by being more involved in their own learning are missed, especially for the more able.

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Key findings

 Pupils are keen to learn and behave well in school. There are good relationships between staff and pupils and there is very little disruption to learning in lessons. The overwhelming majority of pupils said that behaviour is typically good around the school.  Senior leaders work effectively to monitor and improve the quality of teaching and procedures for performance management are well established and effective. These factors contribute positively to the large majority of teaching now being consistently good with pupils progressing well in lessons. However, the role of middle leaders in monitoring teaching and tracking the progress of pupils is constrained as their role is not fully established.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the rate at which pupils make progress in Years 3 and 4 in mathematics by:  ensuring pupils have a consistently good understanding of mathematical Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

vocabulary so that they can choose the correct methods to solve problems  developing pupils’ ability to apply their mathematical skills when solving problems.  Improve the quality of teaching so that a higher proportion is outstanding by:  ensuring that the amount of teacher time spent in initially explaining tasks and feeding back to pupils as a whole class during the lesson are not so long that the pace of pupils’ learning slows  providing more opportunities for pupils to learn for themselves, especially the more able.  Improve the role of middle leaders by:  ensuring they focus clearly on improving the quality of teaching across the school  enhancing their use of pupil tracking data to identify and address any underperformance  ensuring they hold staff to account for the progress of pupils in their charge.

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Achievement of pupils

Children enter the school with communication, language and number skills that are broadly expected for their age. They make good progress across Key Stage 1 and, by the end of Year 2, pupils’ attainment is consistently above the national average, including in reading. Evidence of good progress was seen in lessons and pupils’ work. For example, Year 2 pupils were writing about a ‘bathing machine’, showing good levels of sustained concentration and producing clear and imaginative pieces of writing using sequences of sentences punctuated with capital letters, full stops, commas and question marks.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils continue to make good progress overall across Key Stage 2 and reach securely above-average levels of attainment in English and mathematics by the time they leave the school. Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs also make good progress, especially in reading, and attain well given their starting points. Attainment in reading is above the national average by the time pupils leave the school.

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Achievement of pupils

School assessments show that progress across lower Key Stage 2 slows a little in mathematics. This is because pupils’ ability to understand mathematical vocabulary to help them choose and apply their mathematical skills in solving problems is not fully embedded. Progress as seen, however, in lessons and pupils’ work is good in both English and mathematics, especially in Years 5 and 6. For example, in a Year 6 lesson pupils were learning about the use of graphs and were working effectively together to collect, collate and record information. The more able were given the open-ended task of devising their own methodology rather than be guided by the teacher and this promoted pupils’ ability to learn for themselves. However, in some Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Achievement of pupils

other lessons observed at this key stage, opportunities to allow pupils to learn independently were missed.

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Quality of teaching

Teachers know their pupils well and generally plan activities to meet the needs of different groups of pupils, including disabled pupils and those with special educational needs who also benefit from well-targeted additional support. This enables all groups of pupils to make good progress over time in lessons, although opportunities to challenge the more able by allowing them to be responsible for their own learning are sometimes missed. Lessons are generally well organised and structured to ensure pupils understand what they are expected to learn. However, there are occasions where too much teacher input, especially in explaining tasks at the beginning of lessons to different groups of pupils and feedback to pupils as a whole class in the middle of lessons, slows the pace of learning and interrupts pupils when they are focusing on completing tasks.

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Quality of teaching

Pupils use their individual targets in lessons to help them improve their work, and teachers provide good feedback verbally and through marking. Teachers have good subject knowledge and use their natural enthusiasm to motivate and engage pupils in their learning. For example, in a Year 5 lesson, pupils were making good progress in developing their writing skills through studying The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes. They were effectively engaged in developing their understanding of metaphors and similes to enhance their writing skills.

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Quality of teaching

In the Early Years Foundation Stage and across Key Stage 1, pupils are well taught in developing their basic reading skills through the blending and breaking down of sounds to read unfamiliar words. For example, a Year 1 pupil, when heard read, managed to decode the word ‘sympathetically’. Higher order reading skills are taught and developed well in Key Stage 2.

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Quality of teaching

Teachers have high expectations of pupils and relationships between staff and pupils are good. Consequently, pupils cooperate well with staff and each other in lessons. For example, they respond willingly in question and answer sessions showing politeness and courtesy to others with staff providing good role models and positively promoting pupils’ moral and social development. In addition, opportunities to widen pupils’ cultural horizons are often capitalised on.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Behaviour and safety are good. The very large majority of parents and carers believe that their children feel safe in school. Inspection findings concur with this view. A small minority of parents and carers who returned the questionnaire expressed concerns about the standard of behaviour in school and the way that the school dealt with incidents of bullying. When asked about these issues, pupils responded by saying that behaviour was typically good around the school and in classes and that different forms of bullying, such as racist or homophobic bullying, were rare. They Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

had every confidence in staff to deal with any concerns or problems. Responses in the pupils’ questionnaire showed that the overwhelming majority felt safe, were happy to come to school and that behaviour was good. The concerns of the small minority of parents and carers were raised by inspectors with the school. Senior leaders were already aware of these concerns and, as a result, had already introduced a new behaviour policy that included a revised anti-bullying policy. Changes have been made to the beginning of the school day where pupils now enter the school as they arrive to avoid any inappropriate behaviour in the playground before school starts. Also, a group of parents and carers and senior leaders has been established to focus specifically on strategies to promote good behaviour.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Attendance is above average. Pupils have very positive attitudes to school and evidence from inspection found that there was very little disruption to learning in lessons, with pupils being polite, friendly and cooperating well with each other and staff. Pupils said when there was any disruption in lessons it was because pupils were keen to answer questions and tended to call out. When observed in the playground, pupils were playing well together with no evidence of arguments or inappropriate behaviour. The school encourages pupils to keep themselves safe, for example through e-safety procedures when using the internet. Pupils are well aware of how to avoid potential hazards when playing outdoors and when riding bicycles.

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Leadership and management

Leaders at all levels have high expectations in all aspects of the school’s work. Members of the governing body are highly effective, particularly in holding the headteacher and other senior leaders to account. The headteacher and senior leaders have a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the school and clear action plans focus on improving the quality of teaching and learning and raising pupils’ achievement. For example, there has been a concerted and sustained effort to improve the quality of teaching through senior leaders effectively monitoring lessons and feeding back to teachers. Senior leaders work in partnership with other local schools and the local authority to provide good-quality professional training and guidance for staff, alongside performance management. These strategies have resulted in consistently good teaching across the school. Since the last inspection, the school has embedded a comprehensive system for tracking pupils’ progress,

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Leadership and management

based on assessments and formal tests. It is effectively used by senior leaders to identify and inform intervention strategies to address any underperformance and is now being used to challenge more able pupils. The roles and responsibilities of middle leaders are being restructured in order to develop the school’s leadership capacity. While middle leaders have begun to monitor the work of the school, their new role is not fully embedded, especially in monitoring teaching across the school, using information from pupil tracking to identify and address any underperformance, and holding staff to account for the progress of pupils in their charge.

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Leadership and management

The curriculum is well balanced and makes learning more meaningful by linking subjects together and providing pupils with opportunities to practise their basic skills. Other opportunities such as learning French, together with strong links with other Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Leadership and management

schools in Uganda, France and Spain, mean that the curriculum effectively promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. The school leaders and staff promote equality and tackle discrimination effectively by ensuring that all groups are well supported and included in school activities. Any anomalies in the progress of individual pupils are quickly spotted and addressed.

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Leadership and management

School leaders ensure that safeguarding procedures fully meet requirements. Members of the governing body have been trained in safer recruitment. All staff have been appropriately trained in child protection and there are clear roles and responsibilities to deal with any issues that may arise.

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Leadership and management

The concerted success in raising the quality of teaching, the embedding of a tracking system to monitor pupils’ progress, and the raising of attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 show that the school has the capacity to improve further.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding These features are highly effective. An outstanding school provides exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. Grade 2 Good These are very positive features of a school. A school that is good is serving its pupils well. Grade 3 Satisfactory These features are of reasonable quality. A satisfactory school is providing adequately for its pupils. Grade 4 Inadequate These features are not of an acceptable standard. An inadequate school needs to make significant improvement in order to meet the needs of its pupils. Ofsted inspectors will make further visits until it improves.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Nursery schools 54 42 2 2 Primary schools 14 49 32 6 Secondary schools 20 39 34 7 Special schools 33 45 20 3 Pupil referral units 9 55 28 8 All schools 16 47 31 6

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

New school inspection arrangements have been introduced from 1 January 2012. This means that inspectors make judgements that were not made previously. The data in the table above are for the period 1 September to 31 December 2011 and represent judgements that were made under the school inspection arrangements that were introduced on 1 September 2009. These data are consistent with the latest published official statistics about maintained school inspection outcomes (see www.ofsted.gov.uk). The sample of schools inspected during 2010/11 was not representative of all schools nationally, as weaker schools are inspected more frequently than good or outstanding schools. Primary schools include primary academy converters. Secondary schools include secondary academy converters, sponsor-led academies and city technology colleges. Special schools include spe cial academy converters and non-maintained special schools.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Percentages are rounded and do not always add exactly to 100.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Achievement: the progress and success of a pupil in their learning and development taking account of their attainment.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attainment: the standard of the pupils’ work shown by test and examination results and in lessons.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attendance the regular attendance of pupils at school and in lessons, taking into account the school’s efforts to encourage good attendance.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Behaviour how well pupils behave in lessons, with emphasis on their attitude to learning. Pupils’ punctuality to lessons and their conduct around the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Capacity to improve: the proven ability of the school to continue improving based on its self-evaluation and what the school has accomplished so far and on the quality of its systems to maintain improvement.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Floor standards the national minimum expectation of attainment and progression measures.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Leadership and management: the contribution of all the staff with responsibilities, not just the governors and headteacher, to identifying priorities, directing and motivating staff and running the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Learning: how well pupils acquire knowledge, develop their understanding, learn and practise skills and are developing their competence as learners.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Overall effectiveness: inspectors form a judgement on a school’s overall effectiveness based on the findings from their inspection of the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Progress: the rate at which pupils are learning in lessons and over longer periods of time. It is often measured by comparing the pupils’ attainment at the end of a key stage with their attainment when they started.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Safety how safe pupils are in school, including in lessons; and their understanding of risks. Pupils’ freedom from bullying and harassment. How well the school promotes safety, for example e-learning.

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carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted’s

main findings from the inspection of their school.

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carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted’s

Inspection of Longwell Green Primary School, Bristol BS30 9BA.

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carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted’s

Thank you for making us welcome when we visited your school. It was a pleasure talking to you and watching you work in lessons. You told us through the pupil questionnaires that you enjoyed school and that you were taught well. We found that your school gives you a good standard of education.

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carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted’s

Here are some of the good things we found at your school.  Teachers work hard to plan lessons and provide work that is generally at the right level for you.  You know your targets and what you are expected to learn in lessons and this helps you to improve your work.  You make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics and by the end of Year 6 you are well prepared for secondary school.  You are well behaved and polite and cooperate well with teachers and other adults in lessons and around school.

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carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted’s

To help improve your school we have asked that the teachers and adults in charge to:  ensure that you consistently make quicker progress in lower Key Stage 2 classes in mathematics  make sure teachers do not spend too long explaining activities or interrupting lessons when it is not necessary, and give you more opportunities to learn for yourselves in lessons  make sure that teachers who are in charge of different subjects review your progress regularly, help those who may be falling behind and check that teachers are helping you to make good progress.

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carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted’s

You can help as well by continuing to work hard and helping each other in lessons.

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carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted’s

James Henry Lead inspector procedures set out in the guidance 'Complaining about inspections', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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